This is an Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) podcast highlighting the people, projects, and stories shaping dam safety today. 

In this episode, we discuss the Kelly Barnes Dam Failure. 

The Kelly Barnes Dam was a 38-foot-high earth-fill dam built atop a rock crib dam, located just north of Toccoa Falls Bible College in Stephens County, Georgia. Downstream of the dam was Toccoa Falls, a 186-foot waterfall, and beyond that was the college. Between the 2nd and 5th of November, 1977 the dam watershed received over 3 inches of rainfall, followed by an additional 3.5 inches on the 5th and 6th of November. The dam was inspected at 11:30 P.M. on November 5 and appeared to be stable. However, just two hours later, at 1:30 A.M. on November 6, the dam failed. The failure drew national attention and it was a turning point for dam safety awareness in the U.S. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

  • Foster, K. Neill with Eric Mills. Dam Break in Georgia – Sadness and Joy at Toccoa Falls. 1978.
  • USGS South Atlantic Science Center. The 1977 Toccoa Flood, Report of Failure of Kelly Barnes Dam Flood and Findings. 2025.
  • ASDSO’s Damfailures.org – Great resource to learn more about dam failures
  • ASDSO’s Damtoolbox.org – Great knowledgebase for dam safety 

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📢 This program is copyrighted in 2026 by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. All rights reserved.


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